This Tattoo Is Rihanna’s Best Birthday Accessory

Fun RiRi fact: Today’s birthday girl has at least 25 tattoos—but only one in particular can be the MVP of Bang Bang body art on her big day. Take a guess? It’s certainly not the so-wrong-it’s-right matching camo shark (modeled after a stuffed animal, no less) she got with Drake, a symbol of their on-again, off-again relationship. Nor is it Isis spreading her wings under her breasts in anticipation of a coy flash of underboob—to say nothing of the permanent henna designs that adorn the back of her hands, or the Sanskrit prayer that runs vertically down her hips.

As the first lady of bad-gal beauty celebrates her 29th birthday today, it’s all about about one often-overlooked tat: her birth year, emblazoned on her right ankle in gothic font. Subtle as it is, the 1988 motif sees the light of day far more often than her bolder choices, whether she’s sunbathing starboard or stepping onto a red carpet—because if there’s one fashion statement that Rihanna has made her own, it’s the gleaming leg reveal—tights strictly verboten.